Abbeville, Dublin facts for kids

Abbeville, formerly Abbeyville House, is an 18th-century country house in the townland of Abbeyville, civil parish of Kinsealy, County Dublin, Ireland, best known as the home of Charles Haughey during his years as Taoiseach.

The house was altered and enlarged by James Gandon for John Beresford c.1790. It consists of two storeys over a basement; the front has seven bays, flanked by two wide curved bows, and is further prolonged by single-storey one-bay wings. The house belonged to the Cooper family from 1815 until the mid-20th century; in 1969 it was bought by Haughey, then a minister, who became Taoiseach in 1979. In 2003, after his retirement and disgrace, Haughey sold it to Manor Park Homes, which intended to redevelop it after his death, which occurred in 2006. Manor Park Homes went bankrupt during the Irish financial crisis, and in 2012, the house was offered for sale at a guide price of €7.5 million, about a fifth of the 2003 price.

Under the previous property tax regime, it was possible for Abbeville to be exempt if the house was open one day a year. This requirement was fulfilled by the annual Irish Cancer Society Daffodil Day.

• M. Bence-Jones, A guide to Irish country houses, Constable, 1990, p.1
• B. De Breffny & R. ffolliot, The houses of Ireland, Thames & Hudson, 1984, p.168
• J. O'Brien & D. Guinness, Great Irish houses and castles, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1992, pp.106-107

Images for kids

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  Abbeville from the air